Since forever, it seems that when a female celebrity poses nude or partakes in a provocative photoshoot, World War 3 has erupted, society has broken and anarchy has been set loose on our streets. Oft-times this undeserved reaction to female nudity is due to issues of misogyny, and the fetishization of women as sexual objects for male consumption.
Since forever, it seems that when a female celebrity poses nude or partakes in a provocative photoshoot, World War 3 has erupted, society has broken and anarchy has been set loose on our streets. Oft-times this undeserved reaction to female nudity is due to issues of misogyny, and the fetishization of women as sexual objects for male consumption.
A neat way of testing if this is the case, is to look at how the internet and media react when male celebrities pose nude or take part in provocative photo shoots. You will often find that derogatory comments such as 'sl*t' or 'b*tch' never get thrown around (or get thrown around noticeably less) in relation to men, and people are less likely to strip the photos of their artistic/social intent.
Take Madonna in the early '90s who went through a phase of enjoying her sexuality, or Miley Cyrus in the past couple of years. Female celebrities are never let off the hook from intense public criticism.
Remember when Miley posed naked for CANDY? Sure, the images were provocative and maybe difficult to look at, but they were orchestrated that way for a reason. Unfortunately, in the midst of the initial and frenzied reaction to the photos, an unfair majority of people did not think to look behind the photos to uncover Miley's intent. Instead, Miley was called an 'attention wh*re' or a 'sl*t', completely reducing the art she had made to nothing more than her naked body -- a clear example of sexual objectification.
I've put together a list of 10 male celebs who were naked in a way similar to Miley, yet no-one seemed to bat an eyelid.
Adam Levine
Let's start with a good'n; the mesmerizing Adam Levine. Maroon 5's lead singer partook in the revealing photo shoot in aid of prostate cancer awareness for UK Cosmo. With two hands with red-painted finger nails shielding his manhood, Levine ticks the boxes for being both nude and provocative. It's also clear how this ties in with prostate cancer awareness.
So Adam looked great, it was for a great cause that was recognized by most people. All is good, right? Well, not really. Adam didn't get nearly as much hate that Miley seemed to. Remember when she licked a piano for an auction to help raise more money, and the only thing that seemed to be portrayed in the media was how obscure and gross the singer was!
Christopher Atkins
When Christopher Atkins posed nude for Playgirl, people at the time seemed to celebrate his man crotch, rather than gasp at the shocking exhibition of genitalia.
Darryl Worley
This country singer is clearly about celebrating all the natural good things that life has to offer. For Playgirl, Darryl posed in a variety of provocative poses, yet the world seemed enthralled by Darryl's offering of his man buttocks and torso.
Dave Navarro
Dave made a good point when he posed butt naked for PETA in an act of protest against wearing animal skins.
Keith Urban
What is it with country singers and stripping down? In these photos, Urban was able to strip away all of the unimportant stuff which left pretty much just him and his naked bod. To be fair, posing with a guitar is less provocative than posing with a black strap-on dildo (sorry Miley, I can't back you up all the time).
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Ex-bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger worked hard on his body so who can blame him for wanting to show it off. Even when his penis appeared in photos, the world didn't seem too bothered.
Dennis Rodman
Dennis also did a nude shoot for PETA. The basketball star did the shoot for the same political reasons as Dave Navarro.
Nick Jonas
Okay, so the break-out solo star of the Jonas Brothers was not completely naked in this shoot for Flaunt magazine, but we do see the beginning creases of his buttocks, and he did grab his crotch semi-naked, so it definitely falls into the 'provocative' category.
However the reaction was very positive:
Shia Labeouf
Shia LaBeouf appeared nude in Sigur Rós's 'Fjögur píanó' which was directed by Alma Har'el. The video is very artistic and it allowed Shia to play a more vulnerable, mature role compared to what people were used to seeing from him in the Transformers series.
Again though, when reading through comments that viewers have left over several years, the majority are positive:
Of course this could just be due to the higher artistic quality compared to a CANDY shoot that Miley did, but it's worth considering that if you swapped Shia with a female celebrity, whether the opinions and comments would change in tone and attitude.
Alexander Skarsgård
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This Swedish heart-throb has revealed his bare body on more than one occasion. It's funny how male nudity in TV and film goes so much more unnoticed than female nudity.
By now, you might be wondering why none of these guys have posed in a particularly provocative way in comparison to Madonna and Miley, but I think that's telling in and of itself. Men are not sexualized the way women are, that's why female celebrities embark on much more extreme photo shoots with photographers.
Unfortunately for them, the whole thing is a vicious circle that feeds into itself: women are sexualized therefore have more 'scandalous' photos, the public then sees these photos and slate the women for appearing in them. It seems that men, by and large, escape this kind of ridicule.